1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to communications and, more particularly, to a serial data link with automatic power down.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical electronic circuit, it is often necessary to communicate data between various devices in the circuit. One technique for communicating between devices is a serial data link.
Mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, smart phones, notebook computers and the like, have special needs. Importantly, these devices need to conserve power as much as possible, since they use a battery for a power source. Battery life is an important criterion in selecting a mobile electronic device and, therefore, manufacturers seek to reduce power consumption as much as possible.
Maintaining multiple communications links between devices, however, can consume significant amounts of power, particularly for high-speed communications links.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a high-speed serial data link that optimizes power consumption.